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Stanaway’s efforts in the wet come as no surprise. The Bathurst 1000 winner has always been considered one of the best Supercars drivers in the wet.
His sheer pace is something of a head-scratcher, however. Stanaway has been consistently out-performed by his younger Grove Racing teammate Matt Payne in the dry this season.
“This guy is clearly talented,” said Mark Larkham on the Fox Sports broadcast.
“He was in open-wheelers in Europe and he’s got this remarkable gift in these conditions. We know that’s hard to find in drivers. We all want it, we all don’t have it.
“Yet he seemed to struggle sometimes getting his car to work in dry conditions and David Cauchi from Penrite Racing said to me, sometimes the team feels guilty they can’t give him the cars that he needs.”
Stanaway told Speedcafe on Thursday that he needed to put in a strong performance to be considered for a full-time Supercars drive in 2025.
Opportunities are few and far between. A vacancy may exist at PremiAir Racing with the seat currently occupied by Tim Slade seemingly up for grabs.
Stanaway has been linked to the team and refused to comment when asked about discussions with other teams when quizzed by Speedcafe.
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Scott Pye is another name linked to that seat but no decision has been made by PremiAir Racing boss Peter Xiberras.
“He’s tempting everyone in the pit lane, isn’t he? He doesn’t have a drive at the moment and he goes and does this sort of performance,” said Larkham of Stanaway.
“If someone can unlock the key to giving Richie Stanaway the car that he needs and I don’t propose that as easy, they will unlock a lot of success. The kid is a talent.”
Shane van Gisbergen told Speedcafe earlier this year that Stanaway’s ultimate performance can be unlocked at the right team.
So far, the Kiwi has been through Tickford Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport, and Grove Racing.
His best efforts to date have come as a co-driver with Tickford Racing and Triple Eight Race Engineering.
“Again, Richie Stanaway has surprised us. He’s just sensational in those conditions,” said Mark Skaife.
“He’s clearly very, very gifted. You can’t drive in a field of drivers like this in conditions like we’ve just seen and be the fastest car without an immense amount of talent.”
Like Larkham and many others, Skaife ponders what needs to change for Stanaway to translate his wet weather pace into the dry.
Skaife explained: “Part of what Larko was saying is, how do you, week in, week out, different tracks, different conditions, different tyre compounds, different setups, how do you get the best from Richie Stanaway each weekend?
“That’s the part that at this point hasn’t been unearthed. We’ve seen some remarkable drives, for him to win Bathurst with Shane van Gisbergen, to win the Sandown 500 with Cam Waters.
“We’ve seen all these things unfold, we’ve just watched him right now in those treacherous conditions to be the fastest car.
“He’s remarkably talented, no doubt, it’s a matter of putting him in the right spot at the right time and trying to get the best of him.”
